Peter's Hospital Diary

Well strictly speaking, the oral surgery department. The good news is that saliva production is better than last year, so there has been some recovery of the salivary glands that were affected by the radiotherapy (over three years ago!) – whether or not there will be any further recovery is hard to say, but the problem isn’t nearly as bad as it was. I came away with a prescription for a high fluoride toothpaste (there is a risk of tooth demineralisation with a dry mouth) and some Saliva stimulating tablets (they taste a bit like citric aid drops, but contain other minerals to prevent enamel erosion). However I was given the go ahead to eat lemons – provided they are diluted with tonic water (and gin!)

So that was the day – this evening I had been planning to go down to the dive club for the first time in some months. As my strength has improved, my thoughts are turning once again to the underwater world, although there may still be a few hurdles to overcome before I get there. Still, it will be another significant step in ‘Getting my life back’. As it was, we ate rather later than planned, so I have postponed the visit to next week.

One other thing – the computer threw a hissy fit sometime today, which is why the blog was unavailable. It all seems OK now – it had been running for about 90 days non-stop, so perhaps it just needed a rest!

Still, Onwards and Upwards!

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Well, not quite true because there is still a bit of residual sniffling, but I am certainly feeling a lot better than I was this time last week, and this cold has certainly cleared up a lot quicker than the last one – perhaps my immune system is getting stronger as my physical strength improves? Certainly my weight is still creeping up!

A few hospital visits in the pipeline. Tomorrow I have an appointment at the Oral surgery clinic to review the dry mouth problem (it seems to be getting slightly better, but an objective test may confirm that) and then next Tuesday I have a lung function test, followed by a haematology check up, then ECP in the afternoon and following morning. This will be the penultimate ECP session – hard to believe that it is twelve months since I started the course of treatment!

The weekend was quiet (after the previous one with the the Wedding fair) and the sun shone, which is always a bonus. Pity it has gone a bit colder since then, but after a wet day yesterday, the sun is shining again today!

So in all respects… Onwards and Upwards!

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Another busy week again, because after the Easter Bank Holiday, it was catching up at work, and then rapidly into the weekend – and the third Hampshire Wedding Fair! Yes it is that time of the year again and once again Felicity organised the biggest Fair so far – with over 320 people through the door to see nearly 60 exhibitors! And after a wet week, the weather turned sunny and warm! Perfect!

The weather has stayed warm so far this week, but I seem to have caught another cold. The last one lasted 3 months (or the symptoms did) and it only seems to have been gone for about six weeks so I hope this one doesn’t linger.

But the sun shines (hard to believe that 8 weeks ago the roads were covered in ice), spring is busting out, so Onwards and Upwards!

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Not momentous, but it is five years ago today that broadband came to my village after 6 months of campaigning!

For those that don’t remember, prior to 2003. broadband was limited to large centres of population, and those of us that lived in the sticks only had dial up internet access either through a normal line or ISDN.

The criteria was demand – the more people that asked at BB, the better the chances of getting it, so people started drumming up support to get interest registered in the hope that their exchange would be enabled. A smart team at BT capitalised on those efforts with support, a forum and promotional material, and working with BT, the campaigns eventually changed the BT policy so that all exchanges were enabled – and mine was one of the first under the new policy.

One of the highlights of the campaign was being invited to the BT Tower in London for a reception, the pictures show the view from the top, and me with the then head of broadband marketing. A good evening!

It is hard to realise at a time when as I have nearly 8Mb/s at home, and I am writing this connected through a high speed mobile network that then 512Mb/s was considered fast. We have come a long way, and I am quite proud to have been a small part of it!

Onwards and upwards! (in speed among other things!)

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Happy Easter to everyone reading this – and as a symbol of both Easter and Spring, I took this photo early one morning from the bedroom window in my flat.

It was a quiet week at work, after the ECP I went home then drove back up to the flat for a day in the office on Wednesday. However there is quite a lot happening at the moment so I was also in work on Thursday before driving back home for a long weekend – a weekend to do my tax return and sort out a few other taxing bits and pieces. One unexpected consequence of renting the flat (through the company) is that it is deemed a benefit-in-kind for the nights I don’t stay there on the grounds that it is available for use, but not being used for business purposes! Hmm – first time I have ever been charged for not using something. I wonder if MPs are subject to the same rules on their allowances?

But that apart, it was a good move and I am eating better and relax more than I did in the hotel, so all in all a good thing. Talking of weight, I have just sneaked up past the 10st 8lb mark, so I hope I will reach my target weight of about 11 1/2 st by the end of the year.

Next weekend sees the third Hampshire Wedding Fair. Preparations are well advanced, but it will be a busy time!

I have renewed my diving club membership, and I have a lung function test coming up, so provided that is OK and my strength continues to improve, I hope I will be able to resume diving again. Still, one step at a time!

So on that note, and despite the damp weather…

Onwards and Upwards!

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I’m sitting up here on the 12th floor of Lambeth wing at St Thomas’s looking down over Westminster Bridge – connected via the mobile phone network.

The ECP is proceeding uneventfully – yesterday’s session was quite quick as I had a large kit
(this takes more blood per cycle, but only three cycles for separation) but today I am on a small kit – takes six lots of blood, but only 125ml at a time, so it is a bit slower.

Westminster Bridge has just been re-opened, it was closed last night because of a demonstration in Parliament Square, and it was very noisy – lots of police cars with sirens going to add to the regular cacophony of the ambulances arriving at A&E! Who thought hospitals were places to rest?!! Although to be fair, I was in the hostel bordering the road, rather than on the wards which do have better sound insulation – I can’t hear the outside world from here.

But the ECP really has made a positive improvement to the effects of the GvHd so I am very grateful to the team.

After yesterday’s session I popped down to the PET Centre see Margaret (The Clinical Manager) about some additional uses for some of the (many!) scans I have had over the years. Great to catch up on news and the latest plans for the Centre. Funny to think that when I had my first one, PET scanning was in its infancy (no-one knew if it would be beneficial in my case). That was less than ten years ago, and now it is recognised as a valuable diagnostic tool. I am quite pleased to have been part a small of the process

Anyway, I see cycle 5 has just stated, so about another 90 minutes to go.

Onwards and upwards!

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Where did the week go?!! I was at work on Monday and Tuesday, but home again Tuesday evening for a quick trip up the Guy’s for another referral to sort out some minor skin GvHd problems. Now that the major snagettes seem to be under control, we are slowly picking off the minor ones – this one was skin related and seems to be under control with some topical steroids – another check up in six months! At the end of the month I have another appointment in the oral surgery clinic to see how the dry mouth problem is getting on. You may recall that the radiotherapy damaged my salivary glands, but that too seems to be improving slowly. I have also had another appointment for a lung function check – important because if that shows an improvement, it means that diving might be back on the agenda (not that it is off – just a long way down – no pun intended!)

I was back at work on Thursday and Friday, then home for a sunny weekend. This morning I embarked on a “slash and burn” gardening exercise – in collaboration with my next door neighbour – on an adjoining hedge. So far it is slash – burn will come later. I was pleasantly surprised to find I could do more than I was expecting – I even managed to get the chain saw running (!) although the chain seemed blunt, and the whole thing needs servicing – it must be about 4 years since I last used it, so it didn’t get used in anger! However using loppers above my head showed that my upper body strength is still a bit lacking. But thank you Stuart for your help though!

And finally I heard from a friend from University days – Jane – who I lost touch with just after I graduated, and that came through a mutual friend, Faith (who has posted here before). So thank you Faith, and great to get back in touch with Jane!

So in all ways this week – Onwards and Upwards!

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